Category: Sport

Source: Radio New Zealand

Uncapped fast bowler Michael Rae has been added to the Black Caps squad for the second test against the West Indies.

The towering 30-year-old Cantabrian joins the New Zealand side as it confronts a stern test of its bowling depth.

In the unfolding injury crisis, Matt Henry and Nathan Smith were sidelined during the opening test in Christchurch.

Both Henry and Smith remain doubtful for the second test in Wellington on Wednesday, particularly due to the short turnaround between matches.

While Rae is unknown to most Black Caps’ followers, he’s been a regular on the domestic scene for Canterbury.

He’s chalked up 69 first-class matches including three five-wicket hauls. He’s also played a handful of times for English county Warwickshire.

Rae flew to Wellington today to join the squad for their preparations.

Rae and Blair Tickner, who was the reserve fast bowler in Christchurch, could be in contention for the test XI.

And with Black Caps wicketkeeper Tom Blundell ruled out of the upcoming test with a hamstring tear, Canterbury’s Mitch Hay joins the squad.

The 25-year-old keeper and right hand batsmen is poised to make his test debut in Wellington.

Black Caps coach Rob Walter will also be keeping a close watch on pacers Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes.

They carried an extremely heavy workload as New Zealand’s attacked was depleted to just two frontline seamers at Hagley Oval.

The West Indies head to Wellington with plenty of confidence after their defiant draw in Christchurch in the opening test.

The second test starts on Wednesday at the Basin Reserve.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Whites will play their FIFA World Cup pool games in Los Angeles and Vancouver.

The group draw was made on Saturday with New Zealand drawn with Belgium, Iran and Egypt.

New Zealand will open their tournament against Iran in Los Angeles on 15 June.

The game will be played at SoFi stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams NFL teams. It will kick-off at 6pm local time (1pm, 16 June New Zealand time.)

The All Whites then head to Vancouver to play their next two games at BC Place, the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS team.

The All Whites will face Egypt there at 6pm on 21 June – (1pm on 22 June NZT).

They then finish pool play against the highest-ranked team in their group, Belgium, at 8pm on 26 June (3pm, 27 June NZT)

The All Whites have never won a game at a World Cup finals.

The World Cup opener is between hosts Mexico and South Africa at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City at 1pm on 11 June (7am, 12 June NZT).

The semi-finals will be played in Dallas and Atlanta on 14 July and 15 (7am on 15 and 16 June NZT).

The final will be in New Jersey on 20 July (7am NZT).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The NZ Breakers have continued their mid-season surge to overcome the Tasmania JackJumpers 99-86 at Auckland’s Spark Arena, moving the home team into ANBL playoff contention for the first time.

Their fourth win in five games sees the Breakers leapfrog Tasmania into the top six.

Picking up where they left off against Sydney Kings on Wednesday, they powered out of the blocks, scoring the first nine points of the contest and quickly opening up a double-figure advantage.

The margin reached 17 points in the dying seconds of the opening quarter, and although Tasmania made inroads, closing within two, the home side were 52-41 up at half-time.

Both NBA prospect Karim Lopez and Tall Blacks star Sam Mennenga brought up three personal fouls before the break, and had to start the third period on the bench.

Americans Rob Baker (13 points) and Izaiah Brockington (16 points) led all scorers, while the return of Tai Webster – an injury replacement for Izayah Le’afa – added some spark.

The Breakers have made an art form of blowing big leads this season, so no advantage was safe.

Lopez came off the bench and dropped a three-pointer with his first touch, while Mennenga threw down a massive dunk on counterpart Will Magnay, completing the three-point play from the free-throw line.

Still trailing by 10 entering the final quarter, the JackJumpers remained in contention, but could not quite bridge the gap.

When Breakers guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright picked the pocket of American Tyger Campbell for a steal and easy lay-up, the margin was back out to 12 points with five minutes remaining.

The formula became 13, with three minutes left, but still time for nerves among home fans.

Tasmania closed within single figures, but a dagger three from Jackson-Cartwright with 1m 40s on the clock finally gave his team some comfort, before he found Lopez for the cherry on top beyond the arc.

Jackson-Cartwright amassed 16 points and 12 assists, while Brockington finished with a game-high 22 points. American forward Bryce Hamilton led Tasmania with 21 points.

The Breakers travel to South East Melbourne Phoenix next Saturday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland FC take on Wellington Phoenix for their second derby of the 2025/26 season at Auckland’s home ground Go Media Stadium.

The Black Knights will look for their fifth straight victory in the A-League derby, after holding on with just nine men to secure a 2-1 win at their last meeting in November.

Kickoff is at 5pm.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Running prodigy Sam Ruthe has chalked up another milestone, after shattering the New Zealand secondary schools 1500m record on Saturday.

Taking full advantage of ideal conditions at Hastings, the Tauranga Boys’ College student ran his heat in a time of 3m 38.62s at the New Zealand secondary schools track and field championship in Hastings.

Ruthe was 200 metres ahead when he crossed the finish line and almost 30 seconds faster than second place.

His time broke the previous record, held by former Commonwealth Games runner Richard Potts since 1989, by eight seconds.

Aged 15, Ruthe became the youngest person to run a sub-four minute mile back in March.

The 1500m final is scheduled for 2pm Sunday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the action, as the second match in the five-test series between arch rivals Australia and England continues at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Australia lead the five-test series 1-0 and have not lost to England at the Gabba since 1986.

First ball on day three of the day-night encounter is at 5pm NZT.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps must take six wickets and West Indies still need 319 runs for victory in first test of their three-match series at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Entering the final day, the tourists are 212/4, chasing 531 runs to snatch an unlikely win.

West Indies have Shai Hope unbeaten on 116 against a shorthanded NZ bowling attack, with Nathan Smith sidelined by injury.

This is New Zealand’s first outing in the current world test championship cycle and they desperately need a win at home to launch their bid to regain the crown.

First ball is at 11am.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon is returning to the World Rally Championship after an eight-year hiatus.

Hyundai Motorsport confirmed late on Friday that Paddon will share their third car with two other drivers in next year’s campaign and is confirmed to line up for the season-opening event — Rally Monte Carlo, starting on 22 January.

The 38-year-old is already in France with long-time co-driver John Kennard and said he was thrilled to be back in the sport’s top flight since contesting Rally Australia in 2018.

“I’m very excited to be back with Hyundai Motorsport, eight years after our last event together in the FIA WRC,” he said.

“Hyundai is a brand I’m very proud of and loyal to after 12 years, and to now be stepping into a Rally1 car is very exciting.

“Our expectations are clear: to do the best job we can to support Hyundai, Thierry and Adrien in their respective championships, and making sure we are collecting as many manufacturers’ points as possible at the end of the weekend.

“I feel I am a very different driver compared to eight years ago, and the experience I have gained all around the world in different championships puts me in a good place to put that experience to use.”

The 38-year-old clinched eight WRC podiums and won Rally Argentina during a top-flight stint with Hyundai.

He has since claimed two European rally titles and several regional championships across the Asia-Pacific.

Hyundai confirmed its lineup after Ott Tänak’s move away from the championship.

Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux have been retained for full-time campaigns while duties for the third car will be split between Paddon, Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo.

Hyundai Motorsport WRC sporting director Andrew Wheatley said: “We’re delighted to confirm our line-up for the 2026 FIA WRC season, which will see Thierry and Adrien compete in every round with a trio of very experienced and competitive crews sharing our third entry.

“Bringing in Dani, EP and Hayden enables us to call upon their individual strengths to support our manufacturers’ title ambitions next year.

“We had a difficult decision to make – whether to opt for experience and consistency, or bring in a rising star and nurture them. However, we are in the last year of the Rally1 technical regulations and we believe the right path is to bring in drivers with knowledge of the car and the team.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The All Whites have drawn heavyweights Belgium, along with Iran and Egypt in next year’s FIFA World Cup. The sides form Group G, with the All Whites ranked 52 places lower than the Egyptians.

New Zealand was the final country to be drawn by NHL legend Wayne Gretsky, who stood alongside fellow US sports superstars Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal and Aaron Judge to conduct the ceremony.

Iran is currently ranked 20 in the world, while Belgium is eighth. It was always going to be a tough draw for Darren Bazeley’s side, however going into the final round of a very long and often confusing draw process it was clear that some groups were slightly more advantageous than others.

Elsewhere, defending champions Argentina have Algeria, Austria and newcomers Jordan in Group J. England are in Group L, alongside Croatia, Ghana and Panama.

Australia will be happy with their result, the Socceroos are in Group D alongside co-hosts USA, Paraguay and a yet-to-be-determined qualifier.

The tournament will kick off on 11 June when Mexico face South Africa at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

See the full draw here:

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The World Cup draw will take place on Saturday morning (6am NZT) in Washington DC, with the updated match schedule, including stadiums and kickoff times, to be released Sunday morning.

The 23rd edition of the cup will be the first to feature 48 teams, and will be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. It kicks off on 11 June, with the opening two games in Mexico, and finishes on 19 July with the final in New York.

A new rule in the draw aims to maintain competitive balance in the expanded 48-team format. It means top-ranked Spain and No.2 world champions Argentina are in opposite halves of the bracket, with the same applying to No.3 France and No.4 England.

If the top four seeds win their groups, those countries won’t meet until the semi-finals for the first time in the tournament’s history.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand